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Topic Review (Newest First)

03-02-2009 11:03 PM

montenido

Full keel, that is hilarious! Sorry, I should have given more info on the original post. I guess I mistakenly thought that most people do not flush paper in their heads. I do have the 1-ply marine stuff on board and will use it (in small amounts). I am glad to hear that not too many are brave enough to go the bag route with the smelly paper. I will pump often and try to train my wife and kids to only use normal amounts of paper.

Thanks to all for the input. BTW, I agree with the negative feelings about plastic bags. There are too many around, and certainly too many plying our oceans.

Smooth sailing and fair winds.

03-02-2009 10:31 PM

fullkeel7

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushirama

"one piece" they taught us in the navy when we could run low on paper. Put a hole in the middle of the sheet, stick your finger through it, get every thing with your finger then wipe your finger with the single piece of paper.

Never actually got that bad but it has been done.

Wow sushirama...THAT brings a whole new meaning to the term 'stinky finger' from my high school days!

I agree with Cruisingdad that uncontrolled plastic is a very bad thing in the marine environment. There is tons of it floating around and with some products their use is sometimes unavoidable. BUTT...putting 'pooh paper' into a zip lock is a 'no can do' for me, especially if the pooh is inches from my nasal intakes!

I took a couple of ASA courses aboard a 50' Beneteau. The owner was a hardcore pooh bag believer and was adamant about their use. In each cabin, there was a head...inches away. No way I was going to sleep in a pooh pup tent for a week. I used the TP sparingly and had no clogs or problems the entire trip...well except for the 'gaseous twins' berthed on the other side of the (thankfully) sealed bulkhead separating our berths. Both were vertically challenged, well girthed methane factorys that were recently joined in marital bliss to 'inhouse' source the natural gas needed to fuel their fleet of delievery
vehicles used in their "QUITE" successful business. According to them, they not only had all the money in the world, they also were the source of all knowledge! (just like my ex, knows every @#$%ing thing!).....well in all areas except onboard heads.

Between the two, they had four head clogs and one really bad overflow. All that was missing was the yellow jackets buzzing and a half moon carved into their cabin door! Hell, those two couldn't get their own bottled water from the the refer without straining and jet propelling themselves into the depths of the icebox. No kidding, after not being able to ignore the screaming, we actually had to extract the woman out the refridgeration compartment after she had fallen in. I had a hard time containing myself from passing a little gas from all my hidden laughter, the pressure was almost too much....all I could think of when we each were heaving up on our respective limb....god, I hope there's no open flame and this is that two cloaked pigs in a paint shaker look like! It was a sight. Back to the pooh...

Although they denied using too much paper, the overflow on the sole told the 'rest of the story'. My grandmother's outhouse smelled like a bowl of potpourri compared to what was wafting from behind that door. Their food intake was amazing and personally I thought that even with an excretion rate of less than 25%, they would still need a fishbilly to break each stool into small enough bits to meet the head's specifications for passage. Punching pooh paper into a plastic pouch was the least of their problems!

I could go on, but you get the picture. We sailed for over a week...island to island...except for the 'twins', it was the second best sailing I've ever done but was very glad to get off the ship of pooh. The day before our return to Honolulu, I suffered a panick attack, no plastic pouch of pooh to prove my compliance. Damn, after some thought, I "MacGyvered" it. I wiped a half melted Hersey bar (no nuts) into a bunch of TP and pushed the pile of fake pooh into the pouch to prove compliance. Whew!

After docking and some clean up, we all left the boat with our pooh pouches. The twins were still in their bragging mode(no tip for the instructor either) , and some criticism lavished upon same....it was all I could take.
Don't know if it was payback for their plague to the olfactory senses they'd caused or the stench coming from the nearby dumpster on the dock, but clearly some form of retaliation was in order. I held up my fake pooh pouch and questioned "what do we do with this" The queen methane maiden goes into "I really do not know why we had to go to this extreme". While she started going into "what we would have done to make it better" routine, I opened my pooh pouch and stuck my nose DEEP into the pile of fake pooh. Well the tooting twins eyes both went into cartoon shock mode. Seeing their reaction was priceless and was cause for further action. While I said "it really doesn't smell too bad", I reached in and tore off a encrusted bit and put it in my mouth. "Doesn't taste too bad either"! Never saw anyone turn that shade of red....both hurled immediately on their brand new Harken luggage and Docksiders. No need to process that load...they puked in the cab too. It was OK, I really didn't want to share the cab to the airport anyway. The instructor didn't look too good either...until I told him what I'd done. He laughed so hard he barfed on his cooler. That was OK too, I think the hundred helped in that respect. Hey, I'm not rich either.

Should this go into the AFOC thread?

03-02-2009 04:38 PM

sushirama

"one piece" they taught us in the navy when we could run low on paper. Put a hole in the middle of the sheet, stick your finger through it, get every thing with your finger then wipe your finger with the single piece of paper.

Never actually got that bad but it has been done.

03-02-2009 04:14 PM

Cruisingdad

Incidentally, plastic bags are a pet peeve of this South Floridian - especially zip locks.

You should know that one of the LEADING causes of death of sea turtles is plastic bags. Floating on the surface, they look just like a jelly fish (high on their diet and high on my dislike list). If they ingest them, it will most likely kill them via digestive system if it does not suffucate them first. THey are already a very endagered species. A lot of us go to great lengths to help them.

And for those that could give a crap (no pun intended) about the marine life, plastic bags do not dissolve for years-decades. Other than the fact that they are unsightly and end up on beautiful shores, they can do havoc to an engine intake. I have sucked one up during a storm and had to sail back into the dock... not something I would want to ever repeat.

So be VERY careful with plastic baggies and zip lock baggies. Bad news. And should I also mention that throwing them overboard is HIGHLY illegal?

Sorry - I love sea turtles and plastic baggies are a pet peeve. A few baggies can do more damage than a dozen great whites. Wipe your butt, throw it in the crapper, pump out or overboard in a legal discharge area... or jump in the water to relieve yourself and have the anchorage to yourself.

Brian

03-02-2009 03:56 PM

Cruisingdad

Grosse!!!!

I put together a thread about this somewhere detailing my true thoughts. Not sure I want to repost it!!!! To say the least, wipe it and flush it in the toilet unless you do not want to have any friends on board (or in the surrounding anchorage!!!) I honestly cannot imagine the smell of that zip lock baggie about Tampa and further south. I can see my wife right now... "You want me to do what??!?? Fooogeetabuoit unless you wanna sleep in the dink!!"

As has been mentioned, just use a RV/marine grade TP or at least a septic safe (though some of these do not work as well). Charmin is probably the worst, incidentally. If you have back up problems it is likely because you have that 'calcium' buildup on the discharge line. Tp or not you are soon to have problems. The solution? Pull off the line and smack it against your neighbor's boat that bags his poop. It will make you feel better and knock off the crystals. HEHEHEHE!

Brian

03-02-2009 01:05 PM

sailingdog

Get the TP that says it is safe for RV and Septic systems...since that's basically what you've got...and RV head...

Would definitely agree with Keelhaulin's rule #5 but would also state that it is waived for certain guests, especially if they're pretty enough.

03-02-2009 12:47 PM

tommays

I love this because it took years to get are south american workers to flush paper as they dont do it down there in many areas

03-02-2009 12:10 PM

Faster

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnRPollard

We put our t.p. in the toilet. Never had a problem.

The marine toilets are designed to handle t.p. with no difficulties.

The thought of putting it in a bag makes me gag.

I think the OPs reasons were environmental, not to do with the head's handling of the paper itself. It is kinda gross and I'm with you there, but in places like the Tobago Cays our friends follow that rule to avoid "littering" (as a French-sold boat there's no holding tank)

03-02-2009 11:56 AM

sailortjk1

Some use Single Ply, we use the Marine stuff you get at the chandlery or Rv Store, but I have never understood the need to "Bag It".

03-02-2009 11:35 AM

Keldee

Single ply paper breaks down well but dont use too much.Just a change of attitude is needed.Used our head continually and didn't use a plastic bag at all.Maybe organising and reducing garbage while cruising for extended periods could be another thread?

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